Reply To: JAP 2a flywheel removal

[davidbliss]

Grahame, I would restore to original spec so wouldn’t cause other issues, not a modern? bodge up of an idea, flywheel, locktite and fail safe? key with a nut locked with a roll pin as couldn’t see that saving damage as with speed comes inertia. crank with its assisted flywheel with locktite and safety shear key don’t think parts would survive. I have restored the odd bit mechanical machinery that had been bodged or with parts missing and extras added on, then doing research often doing hundreds of miles going to museums, even then only to find there exhibits often had been got at with later parts added. I remember a commentator saying how wonderful an old car sounded on climbing a steep test hill with its chuffing of its engine, clouds of steam and orchestral whine of gears. Thank goodness things have changed over the years and now see some wonderful engineering in making parts putting them back to how they should be. A few years ago had a 1920’s Humber car gear box to check to find out to what had caused it to get stuck in one gear. Well it was simple, no way can keys in keyways that drive sliding gears can be held captive with rivets for long, they eventually break so why put them in when the key’s can’t escape anyway as two sets of gear hold them in. So a easy fix get rid of rivets. I was told this car was so original and never been touched, with all having the lovely sounding noisy boxes. So I was looking at the gear profile that was good but heavily worn, shafts and gears didn’t match so a mixture of parts, bearing caps chewed up showed of previous disasters of bearing failure so the boxes past showed it was Knackered. New keys, bearings and to prove a point those boxes should run quiet was able to press off both of the meshing second gear ratio’s turn over and replace so they ran silent on drive but noisy on overrun. I was soon asked could I do it to the other gears.